FDtR Part I: Recurring Nightmare
by The Ebyam
Summary: Aang is having nightmares again, worse then ever before. When one strikes him into a coma, Sokka and Katara must find a way to rescue him before it's too late. Meanwhile, Toph gets a visit, and an offer she may have a tough time refusing.
1. Sweet Dreams

~~ Aang was working on his balance. He stood on one foot and was perched on top of a large rock spire. He changed feet so quickly, that it was a blur. He could feel the wind blowing around him. He moved his arms and manipulated the wind as if he was conducting an orchestra. Then, he lept from the spire and let himself fall. Just before he hit the ground, he withdrew his staff from his satchel and opened it, turning it into his red glider. He manipulate the wind around him to direct himself where he wanted to go. He felt so free, nothing could bring him down at this moment. That's when he saw the gathering storm clouds on the horizon.

"That storm's coming in pretty fast…" he thought out loud.

And indeed it was. The black clouds, heavy with rain, were approaching unnaturally fast. He quickly turned his glider around with the intention of returning to the camp, but the clouds caught up with him. As if the storm was deliberately trying to hit him, lightning bolts struck the spire's around him. Turning them to dust. Aang was swift, but the storm was faster. A bolt hit his glider, instantly turning it to dust. He plummeted to the ground, but just before he hit, he created a cushion of air that stopped his fall. He used this ball to continue his retreat from the advancing storm. He saw the camp ahead.

Katara, Sokka, and Toph were getting the evening's meal ready. He shouted to them, but they didn't hear. The storm passed over Aang and stopped directly over the camp. The first bolt hit Sokka, turning him to a pile of ashes. Katara screamed, and Toph turned to her. The second bolt struck Toph, vaporizing her as well. Aang arrived at the camp just as the third bolt struck Katara. He was too late. The three of them, were gone. The next bolt struck Aang right on the arrow on his forehead. He screamed as the blue arrow turned white. His eyes started to glow, and a bubble of air surrounded him. He rose to the storm, and it swallowed him, blackness surrounding him all over.

~~ Aang screamed as he awoke. He was breathing heavily, and he got up and exited his tent. His screaming woke the others. Sokka and Katara shuffled out of their tents, yawning and stretching. Toph however, ran out of her tent with a manic look on her face.

"What's going on?" she exclaimed.

She stomped her feet and a wave of earth smashed Aang back into his tent, causing it to collapse.

"Toph, calm down. Aang just had another nightmare." Katara said.

"Oh, is that it?" Toph replied, disappointed. "Stupid Twinkletoes. I'm going back to bed."

She crawled back into her tent, leaving Katara and Sokka standing by Aang's collapsed tent. Sokka poked the lump that was Aang with his boomerang. Aang bolted up.

"Where is everybody? Hello?" he shouted.

Katara pulled the tent off of him.

"Oh…thanks Katara."

"Don't mention it." she replied. "Sokka's gonna talk to you about your dreams. He'll see if he can find out what they mean. Right Sokka?"

They looked over to see Sokka fast asleep in his tent, snoring away. Katara sighed.

"Alright fine. Come with me, and I'll try to see what your dreams mean."

They shuffled back into Katara's tent and sat on the floor.

"What was this one about Aang?"

"It was the one about the lightning again."

As he said 'lightning', the scar on his back flared, and his mind flashed back to his fight with Azula. The crystals, Zuko's betrayal, and the lighting that had simply shot out of her fingertips. He flashed back to reality.

"Aang, you're probably just worried about fighting the Fire Lord again. Remember the few days before the invasion? You didn't sleep until we made you a bed!"

"Yeah, but this is different! At least for the invasion, I didn't actually have to fight him. This time, I do, and I barely know how to make a spark!"

Aang snapped his fingers, and a small spark flew from his thumb and landed on Katara's lap. She instantly burst into flames, screaming for Aang to help her.

~~ "Aang? Aang!" Katara shouted.

Aang jerked his head up. He had fallen asleep again.

"We'll talk about this in the morning. We both need some sleep."

Aang nodded and laid down on the floor of the tent.

"Why don't you go set up your-"

She looked over to see Aang fast asleep on the ground next to her bed. She sighed and tossed a blanket over him, climbing under her quilt herself. She drifted off to a peaceful sleep, but Aang meanwhile, was having yet another nightmare. Little did he know, that this may be a nightmare he may never wake up from.


	2. The Morning After

~~ Sokka yawned and stretched. He got out of the cot that served as his bed and scratched his stomach. He pulled on his clothes he had stolen from a house in the Fire Nation and grabbed his sword and boomerang. He headed out from his tent and saw Aang's tent, still in a messy heap. Sokka sighed and crossed over to his sister's tent. He stuck his head in and saw Katara brushing her hair on her cot.

"Morning Sokka." she yawned.

"Morning." Sokka replied.

Sokka looked to the right of Katara's cot and saw Aang, still fast asleep.

"Has he been like this all night?" Sokka asked.

"Fortunately for us, yes. He didn't have any more nightmares. Or at least any more that woke him up."

Sokka pushed Aang with his foot.

"Come on man, time to get up."

Aang didn't respond.

"Aang come on, you've been whining for days about finding a fire bending trainer. We're going to search for one today. Get up!"

Still no response.

"Sokka leave him alone. He was up late last night."

"So were you." he replied. "And you're up."

Katara gave him her traditional glare and Sokka instantly stopped talking.

"I think I'll go see what Toph's doing." he said, quickly ducking out of his sister's tent.

"Yeah you do that." Katara mumbled.

"Toph are you awake?" Sokka asked as he pushed open the flap of Toph's tent.

Inside, he saw something that made his jaw drop. Toph was getting dressed. She wasn't facing him, but she was naked, and he got a good view of her backside. Toph stopped and wrapped her blanket around herself.

"What the hell! Get out pervert!" she screamed.

She stomped the ground and an earthen spire shot out from the ground, sending Sokka flying into the air. He came down hard, and it knocked the wind out of him.

"Toph I'm sorry!" he exclaimed as he rose from the ground. "I didn't know you were getting dressed!"

Toph lifted a large rock from the ground and aimed it at Sokka. Sokka clamped his eyes shut and prepared for the worst. She threw the rock, but it was sliced in half and it flew in two different directions around Sokka. He gave a relieved sigh and collapsed to the ground. Katara stood next to him.

"Toph, please," she started. "My brother may be an idiot, and a fool, and-"

"Hey who's side are you on!" Sokka exclaimed.

"My point is, Sokka didn't mean to spy on you. It was an accident. It's no reason to grind him into dust."

Toph grunted and returned to her tent. Katara helped Sokka up.

"Thanks for that." he said.

Katara pushed him to the ground again.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"I can't believe you! You pervert!"

"I thought you just said that it was an accident!"

"That was to save you from getting killed! My god, what is wrong with you? She's like, four years younger than you!"

"Hey, it was an accident! It's not like I meant to spy on her!"

"Just forget it."

"I hope I can." Sokka replied.

~~ A few hours later, Katara crouched by the fire, stirring the soup that would serve as their lunch.

"Sokka, go wake up Aang. He's been sleeping long enough. We're going to eat soon."

Sokka looked disappointed.

"Awww really? I'm starving though! And if Aang's asleep that means more food for-"

"Sokka, now." Katara stated, that same look on her face.

"Oh fine!"

Sokka stormed into Katara's tent and shook Aang.

"Come on Aang wake up. It's time to eat."

Still no response.

"Oh well, I tried."

Just as he was about to leave the tent, Toph walked in, bumping right into him.

"Oh…Toph…hi…" Sokka stammered.

Toph looked up at him.

"Did you like what you saw?" she asked.

Sokka was shocked.

"W-what?"

"You heard me."

"Well I-I don't think-"

"You don't think what? That I'm pretty enough?"

"N-no it's not that! I mean…I think your…um…very…beautiful Toph. In fact I-"

But she cut him off.

"Wait, who else is here? On the floor?"

"What? Oh that's just Aang. He's asleep though. We've been trying to wake him for a while. Now, as I was saying-"

"Something's wrong Sokka. His pulse isn't normal."

Sokka sighed as Toph got down by Aang. She put her hand on the ground right next to him.

"This doesn't make any sense."

Sokka got down next to her.

"What doesn't make any sense?"

"Based on his breathing and his heart rate, it feels like he's been running, not sleeping…"

"He has been having those nightmares again."

"Could a nightmare actually do this?" Toph asked herself.

Katara came into the tent.

"Come on guys, the soup's getting cold!"

She saw them kneeling by Aang.

"What's wrong?"

She crouched next to her brother.

"Toph says that Aang's heart rate makes it seem like he's been doing some running."

"Or fighting…" Toph continued.

The other two turned to her.

"Fighting?" Katara asked. "But he's sound asleep!"

"Maybe not so soundly after all…" Toph replied.

Katara put her hand on Aang's forehead.

"He's burning up…"

Sokka took the legs of Katara's cot and put it on the ground.

"Come on, there's a village nearby. We can bring Aang there."

Katara gaped at him.

"Sokka, we're in the Fire Nation! If one of them finds Aang, then we're all doomed!"

Sokka wrapped Aang's head in a bandana.

"We'll just have to keep an eye on him then."

Katara and Sokka helped Aang into the makeshift stretcher and picked it up.

"Alright Toph, you stay here." Katara told her. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

Aang's pet lemur, Momo, jumped to Aang's side. Sokka picked him up and put him on a rock near Toph.

"No Momo, you have to stay here." he said.

Toph stroked the lemur behind his ear as Katara and Sokka took Aang down the path to the village.


	3. The Village

~~ Aang opened his eyes. He was lying on a huge rock. The sky was blood red, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. He walked around for a while until he came upon the mouth of a huge volcano. The lava bubbled inside it. Behind him, he heard footsteps, and the crunching of stones underfoot. The young airbender turned just in time to have a ball of fire strike him square in the chest. The blast sent him flying into the lava. Aang braced himself for the searing heat, but surprisingly, the lava was cool. In fact, it was oddly calming. He let himself fall drift away, the icy lava carrying him to sleep.

~~ "Jeez, is it just me or is Aang getting heavier by the second?" Sokka asked.

"Oh stop your complaining Sokka." his sister replied. "How can you joke at a time like this anyways? Aang could be in serious trouble!"

"Katara, he's the Avatar. He's gotten out of way worse situations than a bad dream. He'll be fine."

"That may be true, but what you're calling, 'just a dream', is a lot more when you're actually having it. Anything can happen in a dream."

They finally saw the village over the hill.

"Yes! There it is!" Sokka exclaimed.

They descended the hill and started going towards the village gate, but Sokka saw something that made him stop.

"Katara look at this." he said.

They approached a wall near the gate and examined the posters there. There was one of Toph, from the days when she used her earthbending to cheat street gamblers, and there was one of Aang. On the top, it read:

_WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE_

_Avatar Aang_

_For multiple crimes against the Fire Nation including-_

Sokka tore the poster from the wall, crumpled it up, and threw it into a bush.

"Um, Sokka, I don't think that's going to do much good." Katara said.

She pointed through the bars of the gate, past the armed guards. Sokka looked through and his jaw dropped. Not only were there posters of Aang, but there were posters of Sokka, Katara, Toph, Appa, and Momo as well. All of them had the same message, the only thing that changed was the name and the bounty.

"Hey, why are you and Toph worth more than me?" Sokka asked.

"Because we're benders and you're not." Katara replied.

"What? Even Momo and Appa are worth more than I am!"

"Well…they're the last of their kind. And never mind that Sokka! We've got to think of a way to get in here without being recognized!"

"Hmm…" Sokka thought for a moment. "Aha! I've got it! We go back to camp and get Toph, and tonight, she'll dig a tunnel under the gate, then we come up in the middle of the city!"

"Alright fine Sokka, I guess that'll have to work."

Sokka smiled his usual huge goofy smile.

"-but you're staying behind with Appa and Momo."

Sokka's smile fell.

"What? Why?"

"Because Toph and I are benders. We'll be much more prepared for battle if it comes to it."

Sokka sighed.

"Fine. Bend your fancy water and your fancy earth. I'll stay behind and get some sleep while you carry out MY plan!"

"Good. I'm glad we're on the same page here."

Sokka sighed and helped Katara carry Aang back up the hill.

~~ Toph was lying on the floor of her tent she had made out of stone, staring at the ceiling. She wasn't really staring at anything, considering she couldn't see. She was just thinking about what had happened that morning between her and Sokka. She couldn't help thinking about the Water Tribe warrior. She had never actually seen his face, but she could tell he was good looking. All she wanted was to feel his lips against hers. Suddenly, she heard a rustling from outside. She bolted upright, but when it stopped, she laid down again.

"Probably just Momo rummaging in the bushes." she said to herself.

Then she heard it again. This time, she got to her feet and climbed out of the tent.

"Hello? Sokka? Katara? Momo? Appa?" she called out.

She could sense someone nearby, and since they weren't saying anything, she assumed it was someone hostile. She sent a wave of earth where she felt the person, but there was nothing. No grunt, no change in movement, no sound to let her know she had made contact, nothing. Now she was getting a bit scared.

"Don't come any closer!" she yelled. "I'm an earthbender!"

Suddenly, she felt something sharp hit her neck. She felt instantly sleepy, and collapsed to the ground. A figure walked up to her and crouched by her unconscious form.

"Sorry I had to do that Toph, I just didn't want you giving me away." the man said.

He walked over to Appa and climbed up onto his saddle. He looked over to Toph, sighed, than lept down and crossed over to her. He lifted her over his shoulder and put her in the back of the bison's saddle. Then he climbed back on and took the reins.

"Yip yip Appa!"

Appa roared and took off into the cold night sky.


	4. Blinding

~~ Sokka and Katara arrived at the camp just as the sun had set.

"Sokka, go get Toph and tell her the plan while I get Aang ready." Katara said.

Sokka started to go.

"Oh, and knock first this time." she finished.

Sokka blushed and continued towards her tent. Following his sister's instructions, he knocked on the front of the rock tent.

"Toph, we're back. We need your help."

There was no answer. He knocked again.

"Toph? Are you still mad about before? You didn't seem all that mad before we left-"

"What was that Sokka?" Katara asked.

Sokka nearly lept into the air.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!" he exclaimed.

"Oh boo hoo." she replied.

Katara knocked on the front of the tent.

"Toph, if you're mad a Sokka, fine. But don't take this out on Aang and I. We weren't spying on you getting changed." she finished, glaring at her brother.

Sokka rolled his eyes. When there was still no answer, Katara looked back at Sokka.

"Stand back." she said.

She took the cap off her pouch she kept at her side and bended a stream of water out of it. She made a few quick slicing motions and the tent crumbled, revealing…nothing. Toph was nowhere to be found. Sokka and Katara looked worryingly at each other. Sokka ran towards the clearing where they had landed and hidden Appa.

"Sokka, where are you going?" she shouted.

"I'm going to make some sweeps of the area, see if I find anything that might tell us where Toph went."

He suddenly stopped and just stood there, staring.

"Sokka, what's wrong?"

"It's Appa…he's gone…"

"What?"

Katara ran past her brother and into the clearing, and sure enough, there was only an imprint in the grass where Appa had laid. Katara suddenly had a thought.

"Momo!" she shouted.

"What's Momo going to do?" Sokka asked.

"Maybe he can lead us to where Appa and Toph are! Momo!" she called again.

The flying lemur's ears perked up, and he groggily woke from his slumber. He could hear Katara calling his name, but where was she? He opened his eyes, but he still didn't see anything. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision, but to no avail. Momo was blind.

"Momo!" Katara shouted again.

Her voice was getting hoarse calling for him. Sokka put his hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be okay Katara, we'll find them."

That's when they heard Momo's screech. Katara looked up.

"That was Momo! He's in trouble! Come on Sokka!"

She ran off in the direction she heard him from.

"Why do I bother?" Sokka mumbled as he took off after her.

~~ Toph felt the wind on her face and blowing through her hair. A normally good feeling, but for a blind person, especially a blind earthbender, it was downright scary. Toph slowly rose to her hands and knees.

"Hello? Guys? What happened?" she asked.

The stranger flying Appa turned to look at her.

"It's okay Toph. You're going to be safe."

Toph didn't recognize the man's voice.

"Who are you? Where am I?" she asked.

"I understand you're probably frightened-"

"I'm not scared!" she shouted.

She got up, but quickly lost her balance and toppled over, tumbling off Appa's saddle. The stranger released Appa's reins and reached out, grabbing Toph's hand and pulling her back up.

"I wouldn't recommend standing up while riding a flying bison." he said.

"Flying bison? We're on Appa?" Toph asked, puzzled.

She wondered how this stranger had learned how to fly something that had been extinct for over a century.

"Indeed. My name is Felix. I was hired to bring you back home Toph, where you belong."

Toph's heart sank.

"You're a bounty hunter then?"

"That sounds awfully crude, but I suppose yes, I am."

His voice was gruff.

"You can't take me back to my parents! I didn't think they even wanted me anymore!"

"My dear Toph, your parents love you. They would never not want you."

"I thought they would have given up after what I did to their last bounty hunters."

"I heard. You metalbended them into a cage that was meant for you. Impressive."/

"Yeah, I know. Just let me off here, and I won't hurt you."

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. I do however, have a way to make you stay."

The man took a vial from the satchel around his waist and splashed it in Toph's face. Toph screamed and rubbed her eyes furiously.

"What the hell was that f-" Toph started, but she stopped mid-sentence.

The cloud that had covered her eyes for her entire life lifted. She could see.

"Oh my…"

A rush of colors flooded her brain. She could see Appa, and gripped his fur. She could see the sun setting in the west. She could see her hands, covered with dirt. She could even see the stranger that had given her sight back.

"It's only temporary however. In a few minutes, you're vision will be gone once more."

Toph looked up at him.

"No, please! I didn't think I needed to be able to see, but now that I can, I never want to be blind again!"

"The more permanent serum is at your parent's house. They can keep administering you it so you'll always be able to see. But they can't unless you come home Toph."

"Why haven't I heard of this stuff before?"

"It's only recently been finalized. And your parents have a lifetime supply. What do you say?"

Toph thought for a moment. If she agreed to go with Felix, she may never see her friends again. Aang, Katara, Momo, and Sokka. But if she went, she be able to see everything else, forever.

"I'll do it. I'll go home to mom and dad."

The man smiled.

"Good girl."

Appa roared as he flew off towards the mountains, back to Toph's home.


	5. Family Reunion

~~ "What do you think is wrong with him?" Sokka asked his sister.

Katara was holding Momo, or at least trying to. He kept squirming out of her grasp and screeching.

"Momo please! It's me, Katara! I'm trying to help you!"

Finally, Momo calmed down and went limp in her hands. Katara pulled some water out of her pouch and surrounded her hand with it. She brought her hand to the lemur's forehead and closed her eyes.

"Oh my god…"

"What?" Sokka exclaimed.

"Sokka…Momo's blind…"

"What? How is that possible? When did it happen?"

"I don't know Sokka. I'm not psychic."

She laid Momo down on his rock and brought her hand to cover his eyes. The water glowed with a white light.

"I'll see if I can heal him…he can't have been blind for too long…"

Her hand stopped glowing and she pulled it away. Momo opened his eyes and looked around. Sokka saw that same cloudiness over his eyes that was always over Toph's.

"I'm so sorry Momo." Katara said, pulling him into a hug.

"This is just great." Sokka said, throwing up his arms. "Toph and Appa are gone, Aang's unconscious, and now Momo's blind! What next? Is the Fire Lord going to show up at our camp with an army of firebenders? Is the sky going to collapse on top of us? Will all of our heads explode?"

"Sokka calm down. I think we should just work on helping Aang. He'll be able to fly around and look for Toph. Then we can focus on Momo. Everything's going to be fine."

~~ The Fire Nation war balloon touched down just outside the city gates. The door on the basket opened and a girl decked out in crimson red armor stepped out. Her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail and she stepped towards the city gates. A man walked over to greet her.

"It is an honor to have you in our humble village Princess Azula." he said.

"I was told that there's been a few Avatar sightings around this village." Azula said, ignoring him.

"Y-yes. Some people claim to have seen a boy flying around over these hills."

Azula turned to look at the hills behind her, then she faced the two elite firebenders behind her.

"I want you two to search the hills. Kill the others, but leave the Avatar for me."

The firebenders nodded and bowed, then headed off into the hills.

"So, what do you have to eat in a dump like this?" Azula asked the man.

~~ Sokka and Katara had lifted Aang's stretcher and were carrying it down the hill when Katara gasped.

"Into the bushes, quick!" she exclaimed.

Sokka followed, but stared at his sister questioningly.

"Why? What's going on?"

Katara pointed at the two men dressed in red armor climbing the hill.

"What are firebenders doing her?" Sokka whispered.

Katara clapped her hand to her brother's mouth as they walked past the bush they were hiding in. Once they were gone, Katara turned to Sokka.

"I don't know. They must know we're here."

"Well then it's a good thing we're not in the camp."

Katara looked back.

"We aren't…but Momo is! He's blind! He'll probably think that the firebenders are us! We have to go back Sokka!"

"What about Aang?"

"Leave him here. He'll be fine! We have to get to Momo!"

The two of them climbed out of the bushes and headed back to their camp after the firebenders.

~~ Appa touched down behind the fence of a lavish Earth Kingdom house. Toph jumped off the saddle and ran to her parent's door. Her father opened the door and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh Toph, we're so glad you're home!"

Toph's mother hugged her as her father walked over to Felix. He started to pull a bag of coins off his belt, but Felix stopped him.

"The bison's payment enough for me." he said.

Felix took a bison shaped whistle out of his pocket and blew into it. It hardly made any noise, but Appa got the message, and took off.

"So…" Toph started. "Felix said you had more of that liquid stuff."

Toph's parents exchanged glances.

"Well Toph…we don't really have that much. It takes months just to make one bottle…"

"So it was a lie?" Toph exclaimed. "I should have known!"

"No Toph!" her mother said. "We have some, just not enough to last forever."

"One bottle lasts about ten minutes." her father said. "So if you were to use all of the bottles we have, you'd have your sight back for…about twenty minutes."

"You only have two more bottles?"

"Only two have been made…yes."

"You mean three?" Toph replied. "Cause Felix used one on me already."

"Oh he did?" her father replied. "Well then, I guess there's only one bottle left..."

Toph clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She shot a wall of earth that sent her father flying through the house, making holes in the walls as he went. Then, she made a hole and pulled her mother inside it up to her neck, trapping her inside. Toph went into her old house and went to her unconscious father. She got down next to him and felt around his robes until she found the vial around his neck. She pulled it off and put it in her pocket, running out of the house and into the street.

"Toph wait! Please!" her mother called.

Tears streamed down Toph's face as she ran.

"I can't believe how stupid I was. I can't believe I actually thought they wanted to help me."

She made an earth spire that she jumped off of over the wall of the city. She landed, then just kept on running.

"And I can't believe that I got Appa kidnapped again! Aang and the others are going to kill me!"

~~ Sokka rolled away from a fireball that narrowly missed his head. He threw his boomerang, striking the firebender in the head and knocking off his helmet. The firebender shot half a dozen fireballs and Sokka avoided five, but the sixth hit his ankle, bringing him to the ground.

"Gah! That's some really hot fire!"

Meanwhile, Katara was blocking every fireball with a wall of water. She saw Sokka get hit and let her guard down. That was all it took. The firebender blasted right through the water wall and the fireball hit her square in the chest. Her eyes dilated and her breathing turned into startled gasps of air. She collapsed on the grounds, her chest still smoldering.

Sokka's eyes watered up and he let out a yell, getting up and charging at his firebender, despite the pain in his ankle. He tackled the firebender, knocking him into his companion and sending them both over the edge of the hill. Sokka then ran to his sister and kneeled by her side.

"Katara…speak to me."

He held her head in his arms and stroked her cheek. Tears flowed down his face as he clutched his sister.

~~ "What is taking them so long?" Azula asked herself. "That's it. You can't send a soldier to do a princess' job."

She started up the hill and stopped when she saw the firebenders, unconscious next to a bush. Azula rolled her eyes and crouched next to them. That's when she saw a foot sticking out of the bushes. She got up and pulled away the leaves.

"Well, looks like finding the Avatar will be easier than I thought." she said, smirking.


	6. Vengence

~~ Sokka heaved his sister up in his arms and carried her down the hill of their camp. She was groaning and rolling her head around, but she was alive.

"It's okay Katara, we're going to get you fixed up." he said to her barely conscious form.

He stopped suddenly as he saw what was at the bottom of the hill. It was Azula, carrying Aang's body. She brought it over to her war balloon and tossed him into the basket, accompanied by the two guards that Sokka and Katara had recently taken out.

"No..."

All their work to help Aang and save the world, and Azula just swoops in and takes him. It didn't matter much though. He could handle the Fire Lord taking over the world, but if he lost his sister, then he'd never forgive himself. He watched Azula use her fire to lift the balloon off the ground and drift off. Once she was out of sight, he ran as fast as he could into the village with his sister in his arms.

~~ Felix enjoyed his new bison. He'd been silently tracking the Avatar for a while and he'd been looking for the bison since he missed his chance to buy it from the sandbenders. He'd even hired a professional to remake the bison call that Aang had. It had taken quite a bit of money, but was all worth it now. He patted the bison on the head and Appa grunted contentedly. That's when he heard a rumbling noise behind him. He smirked.

"The little one caught on faster than I thought."

He clicked his tongue and Appa swerved downward. Meanwhile, Toph was leaping from earth pilar to earth pilar after Felix.

"Come on you son of a-" she almost let out her curse, but an explosion to her left, shattering her pilar and sending her flying into a nearby tree. Pain shot through her back and she crumpled on the ground. As she opened her eyes, she started to realize her vision was clouding over again. She gritted her teeth and got up off the ground, shaking herself off as she went blind once again. She felt the vibrations in the ground as Appa touched down a couple yards in front of her.

"Well, well, well little girl. I guess I underestimated you." Felix said, jumping down from the bison's back. He was tossing another bomb up and down in his hand and glaring at the young earthbender.

"Yeah, I guess you did. You lied to me, you kidnapped me, and you stole Appa! If I go back to the others and say I lost him again, I'll never live it down! So I'll just be taking him back."

Felix smirked.

"Why don't you take him from me."

"With pleasure." Toph cried as she shot a spire at the bounty hunter.

He dodged it and threw a bomb at her, intentionally missing and sending shards of rock at her. She put up a wall of earth and blocked the rocks, then sent the wall flying towards Felix. It hit him, knocking him into Appa and causing the bison to go crazy and kick off of the ground, flying into the sky. The whistle flew out of his pocket and slid into a tree. Felix hit the ground while Toph ran after Appa.

"Appa no! Come back!" Toph shouted.

As she ran by the bounty hunter he grabbed her ankle, knocking her to the ground.

"Lemme go!" she yelled, kicking back and hitting him in the jaw.

He released his grip and she took off. She felt on the ground until she noticed the shape of the whistle against the trunk of a tree. She grabbed it and drew a deep breath before blowing sharply into it. Felix grunted as he swong a branch into the back of Toph's head, knocking her unconcious.

"Sorry I had to do that. I'm all out of darts."

He tossed the branch to the side. As he lifted her up, he heard a loud roaring from the skies. He turned just in time to have a tail smash him in the face. He dropped Toph and went flying into the forest.

Appa touched down and used his mouth to lift Toph into his saddle. He roared again and took off into the sky.

~~ Aang was in a long hallway draped with red banners with the symbal of the fire nation on them.

"No...no no no!" Aang shouted. "What happened to this place? This isn't what was supposed happen!"

A voice suddenly rang out in the silence.

"It has come to pass Aang. The Fire Nation has won. You must accept the consequences."

The room suddenly lit up with torches to reveal the Fire Lord sitting at his throne with an evil smirk on his face.

"Azula, your guest is here."

Aang turned to see Azula with Katara clutched at her side with a knife at her throat.

"Katara no!" Aang shouted. He lunged at Azula just as she drew the blade across her neck. Instead of blood coming out however, it was water. Soon, Aang was in an ocean. The palace, the banners, the torches, and the evil firebenders dissolved away, leaving the Avatar floating alone in the sea.


	7. Healing

~~ The elderly doctor of her fire nation village was just sitting down for dinner when she heard pounding on her door. She sighed, crossed the room and opened the door to see a young man holding a girl in his arms. Tears were streaming down his face.

"Please...you have to help her..."

The doctor noticed the scorch marks on her chest that burnt right through her shirt.

"I'll do what I can." she said, motioning him to bring her inside.

Sokka entered while the doctor closed the door behind him.

"Put her on this table over here. I'll take a look at her."

Sokka obeyed, and the doctor placed her hands around the burn mark. It was still hot.

"We'll need some privacy if you want me to examine her fully."

Sokka blushed, nodded, and went into another room. As the doctor prepared to examine Katara, she noticed the Southern Water Tribe insignia on her necklace. She removed it without a word and placed it in a drawer.

~~ Toph woke up to Appa licking her face. She shook her head and laughed, pushing him away.

"Knock it off Appa!"

She suddenly remembered what had happened and bolted to her feet. When she didn't sense anyone nearby, she turned back to the bison.

"You took care of him and saved me, didn't you Appa."

He roared in response.

"Thank you. I guess I owe you one."

She walked around to get a look at her surroundings and discovered that Appa had brought her back to the camp. Then she noticed something lying on the ground near her crumbled tent. It was Sokka's boomerang.

"Sokka never goes anywhere without this. Something must have happened."

She felt around on the grass some more and found burnt patches on the ground, then she knew.

"Firebenders. They must have come up from the village! Stay here Appa, I'm going to bring them back."

With that, she bolted down the hill towards the village.

~~ Aang woke up in a dark room. He got to his feet and looked around.

"Where am I?" he asked himself, his voice echoing throughout the room.

He felt along the wall until he reached a wooden door which creaked open at his touch. He peeked out and saw that he was in the captured Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se. The Fire Nation banners hung over all the Earth Kingdom insignias. As he took in the sight, all of the buildings suddenly caught fire, and out of the ground rose a 500 foot tall Fire Lord. Aang screamed and jumped out of the way as the huge foot crushed the building he had been in.

"You can run little Avatar, but you can't hide from Fire Lord Ozilla!"

The giant roared and breathed fire, turning all the buildings to ash.

"You failed to save the world Avatar! I win!" he shouted, his evil laughter ringing in Aang's ears.

"Noooooooooooooo!" Aang cried.

The ground suddenly disappeared, and he fell into blackness.

~~ In reality, Aang was bound from head to toe by heavy steel chains, and was being carried by a fire nation guard, following behind Azula. She approached the doors of the Fire Nation royal palace throne room and had them opened for her by guards on either side. She stopped the guard carrying Aang from following her.

"I want to surprise my father with the avatar. Don't come in until I say so. Understood?"

With her last word, she gazed fiercely into the guards eyes, causing him to gulp.

"Y-yes Princess."

Fire Lord Ozai sat on his throne and watched his daughter come in.

"Princess Azula, I trust you have some good news to share with me."

"I do father. I am returning from a very successful mission and have accomplished what my traitorous brother had failed to do for so long. I have captured the Avatar!"

The Fire Lord smirked and got up off his throne, approaching his daughter.

"Excellent work Azula. Where is the boy now? Did you kill him already?"

"Oh no father, I left that pleasure for you. Guard! Bring him in!" she shouted to the doors.

After a few moments of waiting she shouted again.

"I said, BRING IN THE AVATAR!"

Still nothing. Azula looked at her father, whose smirk had turned into a scowl. She laughed nervously.

"Um...I'll handle this myself."

She turned and crossed to the door, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth. When she opened the doors, she instantly began shouting.

"When I tell you to do somthing I MEAN FOR YOU TO-"

She stopped after seeing what was before her. All of the guards were lying on the ground unconscious, and the Avatar was gone. Azula screamed, breathing fire up to the ceiling.

"Calm down Azula, before you burn the whole palace to the ground!" Ozai demanded.

He too stopped on the spot when he saw the guards.

"What happened here? Where is the Avatar?"

"He must have escaped..."

"Well then FIND HIM!" Ozai shouted. "I will not have the Avatar this close and have him escape!"

"Yes father." Azula replied, bowing to him and running down the hall. "When I find who did this, I will personally cremate them!"

Meanwhile, Aang had reached the entrance of the palace and was heading towards a war balloon, but not on his own. Zuko was carrying his still bound, still unconcious body. Before he could get to the balloon, a ball of blue fire flew by his head and hit the basket, turning it into a blue wall of fire. He turned to see Azula standing at the top of the palace steps.

"What's the matter Zuzu? Leaving without even saying hello?"

Zuko prepared himself as Azula ran at him.

"Don't worry Avatar." Zuko said to Aang on his shoulder. "I'll get us out of this."


	8. Preparations

~~ Sokka was snoring in a chair when the Fire Nation doctor returned.

"Young man?" she asked.

Sokka yelped and leapt out of the chair.

"What? What's happening?"

"Calm down." she said kindly, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I came to tell you that your sister's going to be fine."

Sokka sighed with relief.

"Thank you. I don't know how we could ever...wait...I didn't tell you she was my sister did I?"

"You also didn't tell me that you two were from the Southern Water Tribe. Both I figured out on my own."

After seeing the shocked look on Sokka's face, she smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone."

Sokka collapsed in the chair.

"I have to sit down for a minute...I think my heart almost exploded there..."

"Take as long as you need. I'll let you know when your sister wakes up."

Sokka was just about to fall asleep again when the front door was blown open. He jumped out of his chair and went to draw his sword, only to find an empty sheath.

"Gah! My sword! I must have forgotten it at camp!"

He peeked around the corner to look at the intruder and gasped when he saw Toph standing in the doorway. The doctor stood her ground, simply smiling at the blind earthbender.

"Where are you keeping my friends?" Toph shouted.

Sokka ran in front of her, waving his hands.

"Toph! I'm right here! We're fine! Stop attacking!"

Toph got out of her stance and ran to Sokka, tackling him into a hug.

"Thank god you're alright!" she exclaimed.

After a couple of seconds, Sokka pushed her away.

"Uh...thanks Toph. You're not usually this affectionate

Toph blushed in response.

"You were gone when we got back to camp. What happened to you?" Sokka asked her

"It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you guys about it later. Where's your sister and Twinkletoes?"

"We had kind of a, um...scuffle at camp and Katara got pretty badly hurt. I brought her to this doctor and she healed her no questions asked."

"She just healed her? How?" Toph asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sokka was about to answer when he realized that he didn't know either.

"How did you heal my sister?" he asked the doctor.

She smiled.

"You have your secrets, I have mine."

"Fair enough. Sorry about your door by the way." Toph said, bowing her head a little. "I can make you a new one if you want."

"That's alright. We don't want anyone seeing that I have a door made out of earth do we?"

"Hey, I never asked your name." Sokka said.

"My name is Kailyn." she replied.

"Mine's-"

"Sokka. I know. You must be Toph. Nice to meet you all."

They suddenly heard a groan from the other room. Sokka's face lit up.

"Katara's awake!"

He and Toph ran through the curtains that separated the two rooms and embraced Katara on the table.

"Whoa! Easy guys, watch the chest!" Katara winced.

"Sorry." Sokka said.

"Are we in the village?" she asked.

"Yes. I brought you down here after we were attacked. You got hurt pretty bad, but Kailyn here saved you."

He motioned to the doctor standing in the corner of the room.

"It was nothing." she said. "Oh, and I believe this is yours."

She reached into a drawer and pulled out Katara's necklace and handed it to her.

"Thank you. For everything." Katara said as she hooked it around her neck. She then turned to her brother. "Did she take a look at Aang too?"

Sokka's face fell when he remembered what had happened. Katara frowned.

"Sokka, tell me what happened."

"It was Azula. She's the one that brought the firebenders. She captured Aang while I was bringing you into the village."

"What?" Katara shouted, jumping off the table. "You chose to save me instead of Aang? He's the world's last hope and you just let him go? What is wrong with you?"

"I couldn't let you die Katara!" Sokka yelled.

Katara was silenced, then, she fell to her knees, tears rolling down her face.

"I can't believe he's gone...everything we've been through and he's just gone..."

Sokka bent down to comfort his sister, then Toph cut in.

"No. He's not gone. We can save him. We can go after Azula on Appa."

"It's too risky." Sokka replied. "We'd never make it into the palace without getting toasted."

"We have to try!" Toph cried. "He would do the same thing for any of us!"

"Toph's right." Katara said, getting off the ground and drying her eyes. "We have to try."

Sokka sighed.

"Fine, but if we get killed, I don't either of you bugging me in the afterlife, got it?"

"Thanks again!" Katara said as they left the doctor's house.

"Anytime kids! Be careful!" Kailyn replied.

~~ They got back to camp and immediately headed to Appa. Momo was curled up by his side. He immediately started screeching when they approached.

"What's wrong with Momo?" Toph asked.

"We don't know how, but somehow, he was blinded." Sokka replied as he helped the girls into Appa's saddle.

"I guess we have something in common then, don't we buddy?" Toph said to Momo.

The blinded lemur whimpered in response.

"Yip yip." Sokka said.

As they lifted into the sky, Toph clutched the vial around her neck. She had been blind for her whole life, but as for Momo...

"No.." she said to herself.

"What's that?" Katara asked.

"Oh nothing." Toph said quickly.

She'd have to make her decision before Momo went blind permanently.


	9. An Unlikely Alliance

~~ Zuko dodged fireball after fireball, each time sending one of his own back at his sister. Azula was avoiding Zuko's attacks with ease flipping and cartwheeling away from danger. Finally, Zuko stopped, out of breath.

"Awwww what's wrong Zuzu? Are you all out of fire?"

Zuko gritted his teeth, summoned all his strength, and roared, shoot a huge stream of fire from his mouth. Azula's eyes widened with shock as she put up a wall of blue fire in front of her. When the two collided, and explosion rang out through the courtyard, sending Azula flying backwards into a wall. She got up to retaliate, but Zuko, along with the avatar, was gone. She looked up to see her own war balloon rising into the sky.

She took a deep breath, backed up, and ran, blasting twin jets of fire behind her. She then kicked off the ground and rocketed into the sky, stopping only to grab the edge of the basket. She summoned a fireball and was about to toss it in, but realized that it was empty. Her face fell and she looked around to see one of the huge fire nation blimps lifting off. Azula smirked.

"I'm not letting you get away that easily brother."

She propelled herself off the balloon and latched onto the balcony of the blimp, pulling herself up.

"I've grown tired of the Avatar and his friends. If Zuzu's going where I think he's going, then I'll be able to finish them off once and for all."

She climbed through a maintenance hatch and hid herself in the bowels of the ship.

~~ The last thing the gang expected to see was a fire nation blimp flying straight towards them, and as soon as they saw it, they took immediate evasive action.

"Come on Appa, we didn't come this far to be shot down now!" Sokka yelled.

He pulled the bison's reins, making him swerve left around the massive vessel.

"Sokka wait!" Katara called to her brother. "If we get in here and look around we might be able to find out some information about Aang."

Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Alright fine, but we're going to make this quick."

They pulled up next to the balcony and Sokka and Katara hopped off.

"I'll stay here thank you." Toph said. "You know, take care of Appa and Momo."

"Suit yourself." Sokka replied.

~~ Sokka had his sword drawn and was carefully moving around each and every corner. Katara followed closely behind.

"Sokka come on! We're never going to find anything at this pace!"

"This is really weird. This place should be crawling with firebenders."

"This ship is completely clear of firebenders-well, except for one." someone said at the end of the hall.

They both turned to the familiar voice to see-

"Zuko?" they exclaimed.

Katara pulled a stream of water out of her pouch, froze it into icicles, then shot it at the Fire Nation prince.

"Hey wait! I'm not your enemy here!" Zuko cried as the frozen blades pinned his clothes to the walls of the ship.

Sokka charged at him with his sword and stopped with the blade right at his throat. Zuko had shut his eyes and turned his head.

"I have the Avatar." he said weakly.

Sokka and Katara's faces brightened, then fell again.

"That figures. All this time and still trying to catch Aang." Katara said.

"No! I was trying to give him back to you! I got him away from my sister and I was heading to your camp to deliver him-"

"Deliver him? Aang's not an object! He's a person! I can't say the same for you though." Katara interjected angrily.

"Listen guys. I've changed. I'm not the same person I was a year ago."

"No, you aren't. You're much weaker."

They looked over to see Azula standing in the hallway. Zuko gasped, and Sokka pressed his blade closer to Zuko's neck.

"I knew it! It was trap! He was distracting us for Azula!" he cried.

"No! Believe me I had no idea she was on here!" Zuko said, trying to defend himself.

"Save it. We'll deal with you later." Katara said. "Sokka, help me with this."

Sokka nodded and turned to Azula.

"You can't beat her you guys! She's too powerful! Get me down and I can help you!"

They ignored him and continued to stare down Azula. Katara made the first move. She bent another stream of water and swung it towards the princess, only for her to duck and spin fire out of her feet. Katara brought more water onto the floor, extinguishing the blaze.

"I would love to stay here all day and fight you, really I would, but I'm on a tight schedule."

Azula reached around the corner and pulled out Aang, shirtless and still unconscious. The other's eyes widened, and Katara dropped her water.

"Put him down Azula!" she shouted.

Azula had turned Aang around and was running her hand over the scar on his back.

"Did I do that?" she asked with a smile.

Sokka was about to charge when Katara stopped him.

"No Sokka, we don't want her to hurt Aang."

Azula continued to caress Aang's scar, then brought her hand away and made lightning, twirling it in her fingers, then silencing it.

"It's amazing, isn't it? The pure power of lightning? It makes you feel so alive while you're holding it. Like someone could die at any moment. I suppose you never know the feeling until your holding it yourself. Isn't that right Zuzu?"

Zuko had a furious look on his face.

"Let him go Azula! I challenge you right now! Agni Kai!"

"Hmmm...sound tempting, but I think you're a bit busy at the moment aren't you?" Azula replied, motioning to the icicles pinning him to the wall.

Azula turned Aang back around and lifted him so he was eye level with her.

"You know, I never realized it before, but he is kind of cute isn't he?"

As she said this, she smiled at Katara while the water nation girl clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"LET HIM GO!" she screamed.

She summoned two jets of water that shot at her, and blasted the princess into a wall, Aang dropping to the ground. Sokka and Katara ran to him and kneeled by his side. Azula slowly got up off the ground and shot a ball of fire at them. Katara summoned a bubble of water that surrounded the three and blocked Azula's fireballs. Azula leapt over it and ran to Zuko, pulling a dagger and placing it at Zuko's throat.

"Can you live with his death on your hands peasant?" Azula asked.

Katara's eyes widened.

"Katara, I hate to say this, but if anyone deserves this, it's Zuko. After all he put us through? Come on." Sokka said.

"Sokka's right!" Zuko yelled. "Just get out of here with the Avatar! Don't worry about me."

Katara lifted the bubble and kept it moving with them as Sokka lifted Aang into his arms. Suddenly, Katara turned and blasted the water and Azula, striking her in the chest and freezing her to the wall of the ship right next to Zuko. She dropped her arms and ran to Zuko, freeing him from the icicles.

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself for Aang. You did one selfless act. That's the only reason I'm letting you go."

Zuko smilled, but Katara didn't return it. She turned and was walking away.

"Katara wait!" he said.

She stopped in her tracks.

"I was wondering if I could...you know...come with you guys? Maybe teach Aang some firebending when he wakes up?"

Katara continued on without saying a word. After seeing the dejected look on his face, Sokka approached him.

"Listen Zuko, I know we've had our problems, but..."

"But?" Katara shouted. "There is no but! You can't honestly tell me that you're thinking about letting him come with us are you?"

"Well he had a good point. Aang does need a firebending teacher."

"Not him! He's the enemy! He's been the bane of our existence for the past year!"

"I know there's no way I can redeem myself in your eyes Katara." Zuko said. "I betrayed your trust at Ba Sing Se. I wouldn't blame you if you never trusted me again."

Katara said nothing and kept her arms crossed.

"But think about Aang. He needs me to teach him. I'm ready and willing."

"This is pathetic." Azula muttered.

"Shut it you!" Sokka cried, pointing his sword in her face.

"Oh I'm shaking from the big bad warrior and his sword."

Sokka growled and got closer to her.

"Sokka focus!" Katara yelled. "She's just playing you."

Sokka sighed and stepped back.

"You're right. It's the invasion all over again."

"Sokka, Katara, just give me a chance." Zuko pleaded.

Katara sighed.

"Alright fine. For Aang. One chance. ONE. If you mess up one time I swear I'll make you wish you were never born."

Zuko gulped and nodded.

"Great! We're all friends now! Let's get off this ship!" Sokka cried happily.

Suddenly, the ship shuddered and lurched, throwing the three teens forward. A loud grinding noise made them clamp their hands on their ears.

"What is that?" Sokka yelled.

"I think we must have hit something!" Zuko replied.

As if on cue, Toph ran in.

"Guys! You're flying into the side of a mountain!"

"Wonderful! Let's move!" Sokka cried.

As they ran, suddenly stopped.

"Wait, there's someone else…is that Zuko?"

"Yep!" Sokka replied.

"Why?"

"Talk later! Run now!" he yelled, grabbing Toph's hand and pulling her along.

Azula sighed.

"This is getting quite boring." she said.

She shot steam out of her nose and melted the ice holding her, running down the hall after the group.

They had reached Appa, and Sokka was helping Toph onto the saddle. Once she was on, he motioned to Zuko.

"Come on! Get on!"

A fireball suddenly flew between them and another one headed towards Zuko, who dodged it and shot another one at his sister.

"I'll hold her off! You get on Appa!" Zuko cried.

Sokka nodded and leapt into the saddle. The gang watched as the two firebenders battled, the blue and red fire mixing together in the air. A stray fireball came out of the blast and Sokka drew his sword, striking it and slicing it as it withered away.

"Oh yeah! I sliced fire! That was awesome! Did you see that?"

"Sit down Sokka!" Katara yelled.

The blimp jerked again as the metal scraped against the mountain, then the left half fell away, making the rest of the blimp plummet. Appa flew down and caught Zuko as he fell, but Azula latched onto the prince's hair, holding for a split second before she tore out a few strands and fell into the mist below.

"You think she survived?" Sokka asked.

"I've seen her survive worse." Zuko replied, rubbing his head.

Katara had Aang's head in her lap, and throughout the whole fight, he hadn't moved a muscle. Katara bit her lip.

"He's never going to wake up is he?"

"Of course he is Katara." Sokka said, putting his arm around her. "I'm sure he's just having another one of his crazy spirit world adventures. Trust me, in a few days, we'll all be laughing about this!"

~~ Aang was floating in the darkness. He couldn't see anything around him.

"Hello?" he yelled.

His voice echoed throughout the area. Suddenly, a ghostly blue man appeared in front of him. He had a long white beard and his hair was up in a bun.

"Avatar Roku! I don't know where I am! This all feels so weird..."

"Aang...you failed..." Roku said sternly.

Aang looked up at the former Avatar.

"What?"

"I said, you FAILED!"

At the last word, the darkness was illuminated by fire, and Roku turned into Ozai. The Fire Lord laughed and grabbed Aang.

"Goodbye Avatar!"

He breathed fire at the young airbender and Aang turned his head, but didn't feel any fire. When he looked back, everything was gone, and he was in the darkness again. He buried his face in his hands and broke down into tears.

"Please...somebody...help me..."


	10. Revalations

~~ The team had touched down in a grassy clearing in the middle of a forest. By the time they had unpacked, it was well after nightfall. Sokka had gathered up some firewood and was trying desperately to light it.

"Here, let me." Zuko said.

He cupped his hands over his mouth and blew into the wood pile, instantly lighting a blaze.

"I already like that we added you to the group!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I don't know. It feels kind of weird." Toph said as she sat by the fire.

"Tell me about it." Katara replied.

Zuko watched Katara struggle to put up her tent.

"I'll be right back guys." he said as he left Sokka and Toph at the fire.

"Soooo..." Sokka said, sliding a little closer to Toph. "The other day...when we were talking..."

Toph blushed.

"Talking about you seeing me naked?"

Now it was Sokka's turn, and his face went completely scarlet.

"Well...um...not really completely naked..."

"I know it was an accident but...I didn't really mind it."

"Really? But you tried to kill me!"

"That was just to put on a little show for Katara."

Toph slid herself closer to the water tribe warrior.

"I like you Sokka."

"Um...I-I like you too Toph."

"No Sokka, I really like you."

Toph got close enough to put her hand on top of Sokka's making him jump a little.

"Nervous?" she asked with a smile.

"A-a little bit yeah..."

"I just want to know one thing Sokka. Do you like me the way I like you?"

Sokka was thinking of what to say when he heard his sister.

"Get away from me!"

Toph and Sokka turned to see Katara hit Zuko with a blast of water and knock him to the ground. She then retreated into her recently erected tent. Zuko got up and trudged back over to the campfire. Toph and Sokka scooted away from each other as he approached. As he sat down, Sokka noticed steam rising off him. Zuko noticed him staring.

"It's my way of drying off."

Another few moments of silence passed.

"I'm sorry about my sister." Sokka said. "She can be pretty hard to get along with sometimes. You just have to be in the group a little bit longer."

"Yeah, when I first joined, me and Katara were at each other's throats all the time!" Toph said.

"Were? You still are-" Toph interrupted Sokka with a earth spire that knocked him to the ground. "I'm trying to comfort him!"

"It's alright. I'm used to people hating me." Zuko said.

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you." Sokka replied as he crawled back to the fire.

"Oh yes she does. Have you heard the way she yells at me?"

"She yells like that all the time." Toph said. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually." Sokka grinned as he looked from Toph to Zuko. "Get it? Warm up? Cause Zuko's a firebender?"

Toph shook her head and Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"Is he like this all the time?" he asked.

"Pretty much." Toph replied.

"Aww come on guys! That was some class A humor!"

"I'll show you class A humor!"

Toph opened the ground under Sokka and sunk him in up to his chin before closing the hole.

"Oh very funny Toph."

Zuko and Toph laughed, and after a few seconds, Sokka started to grin as well.

"I have to hand it to you guys, you really seem like you know how to have a good time." Zuko said.

"Just wait until tomorrow Sparky." Toph replied. "We'll show you fun."

~~ Katara had Aang lying on his back on her cot in the tent. She had surrounded her hands with water and was running them up and down his body. She got up to his head and stopped right around the top of the arrow.

"What's wrong with you Aang? Your Spirit World journeys never last this long."

Suddenly, she saw him move his lips. She gasped.

"Aang?"

She moved her ear right near his mouth and could still barely make out the words: help me. She lifted her head and noticed his eyes flickering behind his eyelids. She put her hands to Aang's face and they started to glow. All of a sudden, a terrible pain racked her forehead. She screamed, then fell into darkness.

~~ When she awoke, she was standing at the bottom of a staircase lined in red velvet. At the top of the stairs was an ancient looking temple with an enormous doorway. Then she saw Aang walking into the bright light at the entrance of the temple. She tried to call his name, but no sound came out. She bolted up the stairs as Aang slowly walked towards the doorway. She finally got to the top and went to grab his shoulder but he burst into flames before she could touch him. She backed away as the flames dissolved, and when they were gone, Azula was standing in his place.

"He's mine now peasant." she said with a smirk. Aang was suddenly in front of her. Azula had a knife to his throat. "Kind of cute, right?"

She laughed as Katara went to grab her, but she vanished. Katara was suddenly flying up into the sky. The temple faded, and a bright light flooded her vision.

~~ "Katara wake up!" Sokka cried as he shook his sister.

Katara's eyes fluttered open, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he embraced her.

"Are you ok? What happened?"

As Katara's eyes adjusted to the dim light of her lantern again, she saw Toph standing next to Sokka in the tent.

"I was trying to find out what was wrong with Aang with my healing. When I moved my hands near his eyes I got this splitting headache and I guess I passed out."

"You passed out?" Sokka asked.

"That's what I just said." she replied slightly annoyed. "Wait...I remember something..."

"Like a dream?" Toph asked.

"Yeah...kind of. But it felt like I was really there. There was this temple, and I saw Aang. When I went to grab him he was gone...and..."

Katara suddenly bolted to her feet.

"Where's Zuko?" she asked.

"Still at the campfire." Sokka replied. "He didn't think you'd want him in here."

Katara exited the tent and ran to the fire. Zuko saw her and stood up.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes I'm fine. Will people stop asking me that? It's Aang that's in trouble!"

"What happened?"

"I had a dream...well it was more like a vision I guess...and to make a long story short, I think Azula has Aang."

Zuko looked surprised.

"Isn't Aang in your tent?"

"That's his physical form! I think she has his spirit!"

"I didn't think you could capture spirits."

"I don't think you can." Katara paused for a minute. "Unless Azula's a spirit too."

"You mean like she's...dead?"

Katara nodded.

"So what your basically telling me is that my sister's ghost invaded the Avatar's dreams and kidnapped his spirit?"

"I know it's hard to believe but please, we have to do something."

"That is a lot to believe..."

"I agree with Zuko on this one." Sokka said as he approached. "That sounds pretty ridiculous to me."

"There's only one way to know for sure." Katara said. "We're going to have to get into the Spirit World."

"How?" Zuko asked. "I thought that was an Avatar thing."

"I don't know." Katara replied. "But I just did it, so there has to be a way."

"Are you sure you weren't just dreaming?" Sokka asked her.

"I'm positive! I could feel that Aang was in trouble! Please, you need to believe me!"

After a short pause, Zuko spoke.

"I believe you Katara."

Katara's face lit up.

"But if you are right, than we need to find out how to get into the Spirit World."

"Why don't we sleep on it and find out in the morning." Sokka said.

"Good idea." Toph yawned. "I think we could all use some sleep."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Katara shouted.

"Um...that we're all tired and need some sleep." Toph replied.

"You think I'm crazy don't you?"

"Well actually-" Sokka cut Toph off by putting a hand over her mouth.

"Of course she doesn't!" he said nervously. "Ow! You bit me!" he yelped, pulling his hand back.

Zuko put his hand on Katara's shoulder.

"They're right Katara, let's just all get some sleep."

Katara nodded and they retreated to their sleeping quarters. Katara and Sokka to their blue water nation tents, and Toph to her tent made from earth. Zuko laid on the ground near the campfire. After a few moments, Katara came up and handed him a blanket.

"Here, I don't know how it works with you being a firebender and all, but I think you could probably use this."

Zuko smiled up at her.

"Thank you."

Katara nodded and went back to her tent. Zuko sighed. There was something about Katara that he liked...something he couldn't quite figure out yet...

~~ "Sokka? Are you awake?"

Sokka groaned as he lifted himself out of his sleeping bag.

"Toph? Is that you?"

"Yep." she replied, sitting in front of him. "I never got an answer out of you."

"About what?" Sokka asked, rubbing his eyes.

"About your feelings towards me."

Sokka was suddenly wide awake.

"Toph...I-"

"It's okay." she interrupted. "You don't have to say it. I'll just go. Sorry I woke you up."

Sokka grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.

"That's not it at all. Toph, I have these really strong but confusing feelings towards you. I mean, I like you, but I still love Suki."

At the mention of Suki, Toph's heart fell.

"Oh..." she said.

"I hope we can still be friends."

Toph nodded and Sokka pulled her into a hug. When they were done, she stood and exited the tent, tears running down her face.

"I'm sorry Toph..." Sokka said to himself as she left.

He brushed a few tears from his eyes and rolled back into his sleeping bag.

~~ Katara was having trouble sleeping as well, and not just because of the mission that lay ahead. She was thinking about Zuko. In Ba Sing Se, she had felt sorry for him, and maybe even something more...could it have been a little crush? No that was stupid. But now that Zuko was traveling with them, and especially after what he had said to her that night, she couldn't deny it. Even if it was in a small way, she loved Zuko. But she loved Aang too, and she knew that Aang loved her back. They had kissed twice before, once in the cave of two lovers, and once before the invasion, but now, if they didn't save him, she might never get to tell Aang her feelings.

She sighed and rolled over to see him in the cot next to her. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully, but she knew that there was turmoil going on inside of him. She gently rubbed his cheek.

"We're going to get you back safe Aang." Than she leaned over him and whispered in his ear: "I love you."

She kissed his forehead and climbed back into her cot, rolling over and trying to get to sleep.

**Authors Note: That is the end of the first part. I will be making a part two realitively soon, but I just wanted to finish this one up. Sorry if the last chapter was a little long/boring/mushy for you, but hey, after not updating for six months four chapters in a couple days is pretty darn good. Reviews appreciated people!**


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